A race knife, also called a timber scribe or scoop knife, is a knife with a U-shaped cutting end used by lumbermen, carpenters, coopers and surveyors to cut marks directly into wood. The marks it leaves serve various purposes, including keeping count, identifying parts, numbering, and tracing a pattern around a template as part of marking out; the gouges a race knife cuts are more durable and weather-resistant than a pencil or chalk mark would be.
Facts
Partially Attested
Introduced When (Circa)Date reflects the earliest located documentation of the tool in Edward H. Knight's dictionary, not necessarily the date the tool was first invented or used Connections
Used In
Source Race knife (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Small Objects with Big Stories (The Henry Ford)
Article, Historical Documentation sectionQuote, Article, Historical Documentation section
Edward H. Knight described these tools in his Practical Dictionary of Mechanics (1877).
Race knife (Wikipedia)
Used In: Woodworking, Lead sectionQuote, Used In: Woodworking, Lead section
Race knife also known as a timber scribe (scorer, tree marker) is a knife with a U-shaped end sometimes called a scoop knife for cutting marks in wood by lumbermen, carpenters, coopers, surveyors, and others.
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